Romans 1

living an identity built in the gospel

As with all of correspondence, Paul began his letter to the Romans with a heart-felt greeting wishing to bestow the grace and peace of Christ upon his audience; he, also, in typical fashion included his title in the introduction of himself. However, to the Romans, Paul’s introduction is much longer, far more specified, and deeply theologically intricate. Of the various titles that he gave himself in his letters (apostle, servant, prisoner), Paul chose to invoke a humble description of servant as opposed to his most common title of authority (apostle). This may appear subtle and inconsequential; however, it must be remember that Paul is speaking to a generally unknown (or at least lesser known) audience and, throughout his letter he demonstrated a requirement to present both himself and his message as having validity and rightful standing. Of all the times in which an appeal to authority may have proven useful, Paul refrains from such an approach and instead claims a position of humility. To an ancient audience, the message was clear: Paul was not going to be standing on his own merits. Servants in the ancient world were sent only to give their master’s message. This was Paul’s intention; the content to come was to be the Gospel of Christ and not the insights of Paul.

This is furthered by Paul’s outlining of the Gospel in his introduction. Not only did he prioritize the Gospel from the very beginning of his message, he also interwove it with his identity and purpose. The Gospel, then, was not simply something he wanted to present; who he was could only be understood through the Gospel. After sharing his desire to fellowship and minister to them personally, Paul furthered his emphasis on the Gospel with his thesis statement:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:16-17

For the remainder of his writings, he argued his case for the power of the Gospel to bring reconciliation and freedom, for the power of the Gospel to unite the believers in faith, and for the supremacy of Christ’s sufficient salvation.

The first chapter ends with a needed caveat, a basic clarification before moving into a theological discussion of sin and the law. Paul states that there is clearly a way of life that exists outside of the will of God. While freedom in Christ is available to the Christian, and while we are by no means burdened with attempting to obtain reconciliation with God through works of the Law, Paul made sure to highlight that ungodliness is not tolerated in the Kingdom of God. Through the remaining chapters, this reality must be remembered or the conversation about the law could be in jeopardy of being taken out of context. We, today, cannot, as Paul emphasized through Romans, take advantage of our freedom by attempting to justify ungodliness; our freedom in Christ is not an excuse to sin.

Romans begins with a convicting call against ungodliness only as it is first and foremost shadowed by the beautiful truth of the Gospel; Paul, with his identity and purpose wrapped in Gospel truth, also outlined for the believer an example of how he could (later in the letter) with confidence and security openly share his personal struggles as seen and understood through the saving work of Christ. We, too, through faith in Him, can stand secure in our identity as children of God and heirs of the righteousness of Christ knowing that there is no condemnation for those that call upon His name; this is the power of the Gospel in our lives and the stage for the Roman’s conversation.